Liquids, such as juices and the like, are often packaged by a producer in concentrated form. Packaging for such liquids typically includes a barrel or a drum, and a flexible plastic liner which is appropriately sized to fit within the barrel or drum. Packaging such products in a concentrated form tends to reduce the overall product cost because the reduced volume results in lower packaging and shipping costs. Typically, the concentrated liquid is reconstituted by blending with water and packaged for end use, such as by a consumer, at a bottling or packaging plant.
Not uncommonly, such concentrates are packaged or shipped in large vessels or containers, such as those mounted on truck beds or rail cars, when transported in large volumes.
To transfer the liquid or juice concentrate from a barrel to a handling operation, bottling plants may use manual labor or pumping operations employing positive displacement pumps. Manual labor can be costly and inefficient. Concentrate or product may be spilled or contaminated which must be discarded as waste. Increased direct transfer reduces the potential for such spillage or waste.
In a typical bottle or packaging operation, concentrate is transferred to a batch tank, the concentrate in the batch tank is then blended with a diluent, such as water, in accordance with predetermined dilution ratios. The product, such as juice product, is then sampled and tested. As required, adjustments are made to the product. Manual checks of the equipment, the operations, and the final product quality are performed throughout.
Positive displacement pumps also have some drawbacks. Namely, such pumps tend to rapidly wear when used in concentrated juice systems because of the abrasive nature of the concentrates.